Network Rail will deliver a £152m Christmas and New Year engineering investment programme across Britain's railway, with major construction and renewal work concentrated at Dolphin Junction near Slough, Forest Gate in east London, Birmingham New Street, Redhill and Huddersfield.
The figure, published by Network Rail on 14 October 2026, is a programme-level investment value rather than a single contract award. An LCM review of the primary project releases on 31 October found detailed physical scopes and several project values, but no named delivery contractor in the main Network Rail releases for Dolphin Junction, Forest Gate, Birmingham New Street or Redhill.
Railway track renewal work illustrating the type of engineering activity being delivered across Network Rail's £152m Christmas and New Year programme. Image: London Construction Magazine.
What the £152m represents
Network Rail describes the £152m as an investment programme for Christmas and New Year 2026/27. It covers a mixture of track renewal, switches and crossings, overhead-line equipment, signalling-related work, station activity and wider maintenance across several regions.
The national figure should not be read as £152m of newly awarded construction contracts. Network Rail does not publish a project-by-project reconciliation of the total, and the regional announcements use different value types. Dolphin Junction carries a £27.8m project value, Birmingham New Street begins a £13m three-year overhead-line programme, while £31.7m at Redhill refers to Network Rail's wider Southern-region Christmas investment rather than a Redhill-only contract.
Scotland adds another complication. Network Rail Scotland announced more than £15m of Christmas and New Year works on 21 October, including overhead-line renewals around Glasgow, but the national release does not say whether that regional figure sits inside the £152m.
| Work front | Published value | Main physical scope | Published possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphin Junction, Slough | £27.8m project value | Points, new track layout, OLE and signalling equipment | 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, after the normal Christmas shutdown |
| Forest Gate | Not stated | Six sets of points, rails, sleepers and ballast | 10-day engineering programme from Christmas Day |
| Birmingham New Street and Soho | £13m three-year OLE programme; £6.4m Soho work | Overhead wiring, junction equipment and 800 metres of track | 24 to 28 December 2026 |
| Redhill | Part of £31.7m Southern-region Christmas investment | Switches and crossings over more than one mile, plus two track sections | 20 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 |
| Huddersfield | Christmas package value not stated | Final phase of station and railway transformation under TRU | After final service on 24 December 2026 to 31 January 2027 |
Dolphin Junction puts £27.8m into one Great Western work front
The most detailed project record is Dolphin Junction between Slough and Langley, where Network Rail is spending £27.8m on the eastern side of the junction. The project follows work on the western side during Christmas 2025 and combines renewal of ageing infrastructure with a new track layout intended to allow trains to move through the junction at higher speed.
The physical quantities are unusually specific. Network Rail says 88 pre-constructed track panels will form the new layout, nine new overhead-line structures are being installed, including four gantries, and one kilometre of new overhead wire will be carried by the new masts and gantries. Points operating equipment is also being replaced and two signals are being relocated with associated lineside equipment.
The programme has been under way for months rather than starting at Christmas. Piling for overhead-line foundations and mast installation ran through June, July and August 2026, followed by signalling installation and delivery of rail and specialist track panels. October and November cover removal of redundant electrification equipment and further panel deliveries before track installation during the 28 and 29 November closure.
The main Christmas phase runs from 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, following the normal railway shutdown on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. GWR services are due to regain access to Paddington on 4 January. The project provides a useful contrast with LCM's earlier reporting on the possession-led removal of Oxhey Grange footbridge, where a large physical intervention was similarly compressed into a limited railway access window.
Forest Gate concentrates track renewal into 10 days
Network Rail's Great Eastern programme puts a continuous 10-day engineering programme at Forest Gate on one of the main approaches to London Liverpool Street. Engineers will renew six sets of points with associated rails, sleepers and ballast.
The same East London programme includes renewal of two sets of points at Stratford, rail, sleeper and ballast replacement at Barking station, and repairs to platform canopies and roof sheeting at Forest Gate station. Network Rail says passenger numbers between Christmas Day and New Year's Day are often around half those of a typical weekday, creating one of the few periods when extended access can be taken on the Great Eastern Main Line.
The construction work sits on the approach to a station already undergoing a separate long-term transformation. LCM has previously examined Network Rail's wider plans for London Liverpool Street, but the Forest Gate package is an operational railway renewal rather than part of that station redevelopment.
Birmingham combines power and track work
Birmingham New Street will have no train services from 24 to 28 December 2026 while Network Rail starts a £13m three-year programme to renew overhead power lines on the approaches to and through the station. Much of the existing wiring dates from the 1960s, with further Christmas work planned in 2027 and 2028.
The £13m figure covers the longer overhead-line programme, not a separately stated value for the 2026 Christmas phase. During the same closure Network Rail will spend £6.4m replacing ageing junction equipment at Soho and renewing 800 metres of track. Work will also take place between Birmingham and Sandwell and at Berkswell, where a new turnout is being installed to connect the existing railway with sidings for future HS2 construction logistics.
Redhill turns a regional investment into a long possession
At Redhill, Network Rail will work from 20 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 on switches and crossings and more than a mile of railway. The project includes two sections of track replacement with new rail, sleepers and ballast, as well as maintenance of signalling equipment between Merstham and Redhill.
Network Rail places the work within a £31.7m investment in the Southern region's railway network over Christmas. That figure is not a Redhill contract value. A site compound will occupy part of Redhill station car park during the works, while the subway beneath the railway is due to close for part of the possession to allow track work to proceed safely.
Huddersfield extends the engineering window into February
Huddersfield has the longest published closure among the major projects named in Network Rail's national announcement. The station is due to close after the final service on 24 December 2026 and remain closed until 31 January 2027, reopening on 1 February.
The 38-day closure forms the next phase of the Transpennine Route Upgrade and follows a 16-day autumn possession around Huddersfield. Network Rail says the Christmas blockade will carry further railway and station upgrades before the main station works are completed in early 2027. The value of the Christmas Huddersfield package is not given, so the wider multi-billion-pound TRU programme should not be used as a substitute.
The contractor picture is less transparent than the engineering scope
The physical works are described in considerable detail, but Network Rail's project releases do not identify the delivery contractor for several of the biggest Christmas packages. LCM checked the published primary records for Dolphin Junction, Forest Gate, Birmingham New Street and Redhill on 31 October 2026 and found no project-specific contractor appointment in those releases.
Existing CP7 alliances and regional frameworks provide the wider procurement structure, but holding a framework position does not establish that a contractor has received a specific Christmas call-off. That distinction is the same one LCM applied when examining Network Rail's proposed £650m East West Rail direct award, where the procurement stage and the actual award position had to be kept separate.
The Christmas works also sit inside Network Rail's much larger five-year investment cycle. LCM's analysis of Department for Transport accounts previously recorded a £44.1bn ring-fenced Network Rail budget for Control Period 7 in England and Wales, covering operations, maintenance and renewal between 2024 and 2029. The £152m Christmas programme is a delivery window within that wider railway investment environment, not a replacement figure for CP7 spending.
Why the work is concentrated at Christmas
Network Rail's stated reason for the long possessions is access. Its national announcement says the period between Christmas Day and New Year is one of the few opportunities to complete major multi-day projects at busy stations and routes, while the Great Eastern release says passenger numbers can fall to around half those of a typical weekday.
For the construction teams, that converts lower passenger demand into continuous access for activities that would be difficult to divide across ordinary weekend possessions: junction replacement, track reconstruction, overhead-line renewal, signalling changes and commissioning before the railway is handed back.
The next confirmed milestone comes before Christmas. Lines to and from London Paddington are due to close on 28 and 29 November 2026 for preparatory work at Dolphin Junction, including track installation ahead of the main Christmas and New Year possession.
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